


Chasing Amber (Through Fields & Marshes)

by VietnamVet



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Chloe Dies/Rachel Survives, Depression, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Fluff, Forced Bay Ending With A Twist, Friends to Lovers, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:33:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28770891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VietnamVet/pseuds/VietnamVet
Summary: Max Caulfield is presented with two choices on a clifftop; kill her best friend, or kill her entire hometown. Instead, she gambles on creating a third option - save Rachel, intending to stop those outcomes from happening in the first place. But fate doesn't like being circumvented and intervenes to ensure that her action has consequences... Also known as a forced Bay ending with a twist, or if you want a summary that better explains the title:Victoria Chase cannot stand being second-best to the perfect Rachel Amber. Her number one nemesis and unbeknownst to anyone except her own subconscious, her first crush on another girl. She thought she'd do anything to take Rachel's title, yet on that fateful Monday when Chloe, Rachel's dropout of a friend, gets murdered by Nathan in the bathroom, she's torn between ruthlessly capitalizing on the opportunity, or for once in her life showing a little humanity. Either way, she'll have to go through her hated photography rival Max, and the fake bible-thumper Kate, if she wants to reach the broken shell of Rachel... But why is it that when they should be at their weakest, the people she despises the most seem to be stronger than ever, and worst of all, sticking together?
Relationships: Rachel Amber & Maxine "Max" Caulfield & Victoria Chase & Kate Marsh, Rachel Amber/Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Victoria Chase/Kate Marsh
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Chasing Amber (Through Fields & Marshes)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to my third fic of 2021!
> 
> So, if it isn't immediately obvious from the tags, this is going to be my one and only attempt at writing a Bay ending. But I didn't want Max to simply choose to sacrifice Chloe (because she wouldn't... end of discussion!), so I added a twist; it's a forced Bay ending where Chloe dies but Rachel survives. This fic will be about Max and Rachel mourning the loss of Chloe, and eventually growing closer because of it. Add in a supportive Kate and a conflicted Victoria, and hopefully this story won't just be one big depressing mess without our favourite blue-haired punk. Now, I know a fic where Chloe is dead isn't readable for many, myself included, but I hope that my spin on it will at-least make it interesting and unique; I don't think there's been a Max/Rachel/Victoria/Kate polyship before now, since I couldn't find it listed as a relationship tag.
> 
> Enjoy! :)

**Chasing Amber (Through Fields & Marshes)**

**Chapter 1: Saving Rachel**

I stared morosely at the blue-haired goddess standing in-front of me, as she handed me a butterfly photo and attempted to convince me to do something that I already knew I could not. "Max, it's time..."

I frantically shook my head in disagreement and refused to take my eyes off her. "No! Chloe, I already killed you once. I can't do it again. I won't!"

Chloe gently gripped my hands. "You won't be killing me, Max. I was meant to die in that bathroom, it hella sucks but that's just the way it is. We don't really have a choice here, either I die or the entire town gets wiped out. The math isn't on my side."

A sob escaped my mouth, though it was inaudible compared to the sound of the storm around us. "Yes I would be killing you, Chloe. Don't try to downplay it. If I go back, I won't just be obliviously standing by as an unknown girl gets shot like the first time, I will be willingly hiding and allowing my best friend to die, when you thought that you were alone and abandoned by everyone. I might as-well be pulling the fucking trigger myself! Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to be apart from you for five years? Imagine what it'll be like for me if that becomes permanent, knowing it's my fault you died, all because I couldn't find another way!"

Chloe stared into my eyes, matching my intense gaze with her own to see who would back down first. "I know, but you have to do this. Max, I can't be responsible for killing damn near everyone in Arcadia Bay, even if I hate that shit-pit."

I tenderly placed a hand on her cheek. "And I can't be responsible for killing you. Everything I've done this week was to keep you alive and by my side. Why the fuck did I even get these powers in the first place if I was supposed to just let you die? There has to be more to it, Chloe. It doesn't make any sense."

She opened her mouth to retort when I remembered something and continued, "Didn't you say that the storm could've been Rachel's revenge?"

Chloe was caught off-guard for a moment before she shrugged. "I was being my ususal bitchy self when I said that. I mean, sure, she despised this town and was desperate to escape. But if the storm really is her revenge for what those fuckers did to her, then why would my death at the hands of Nathan be the one thing that stops her? If anything, that would just piss her off even more."

I turned to face the gigantic tornado that was almost at the shore and stayed quiet for a few seconds before asking, "If I had met her, do you really think we could've gotten along?"

Chloe hummed. "I know she lied to me about Frank, and... Jefferson, but... Yeah. I still think we'd all be hella best friends forever. Why?"

I glanced back at her. "You know how I tried to stop your dad from dying? Well, I'm kinda surprised you didn't ask me to do the same for Rachel when we found her in the junk-yard..."

Chloe blinked. "I... didn't even think of that, I was too focused on putting a bullet in Nathan's head." Then her eyes went wide. "Are you seriously saying...?"

I held her hand and continued watching the tornado. "I am, yeah. As unlikely as it is for this thing to actually be a manifestation of Rachel's revenge, I refuse to even entertain the idea of losing you without seeing if it's true first. It's the only other card I have left to play, so... I'm going to save Rachel. For both of us."

Chloe grip tightened in response. "But... what if it works? Everything will be different. I'd still have Rachel in my life. I really loved her back then, you know? And I kinda still do, despite all the shit she did."

I nodded at her. "Chloe, she was your angel. You said so yourself. Rachel was there for you when I was the world's worst best friend. I owe her for that and want the chance to thank her in person, even if it means you're less likely to forgive me, especially without this crazy week for us to bond over."

Chloe smiled sadly. "If I know myself, she'll probably say she hates you, repeatedly. But that was much easier to say when you weren't here, compared to being able to see your reaction to it in person. So don't let her try to push you away, because I never could stay mad at you for long, Max. And I'm not convinced that saving Rachel will actually solve anything with the storm, but... thank you for offering to try. So, uh... what do you need to do this? A photo?"

I groaned. "Yeah. One that I took around the time before Rachel first went missing. The problem is, I'd still be in Seattle and would have to somehow get back down here in time to stop her from being taken. I'm sure there will be a photo I can use in my dorm back at Blackwell."

Chloe gestured to the tornado and swore under her breath. "We better get moving then, and cross our fingers we can get there before that fuckin' thing does. My truck should still be parked near the beach, hopefully it's survived the storm so far, otherwise we're screwed."

I nodded at that, and began leading the way back down the lighthouse path, holding her hand the entire way to ensure we didn't slip in the water-logged mud. Eventually we'd made it to the bottom and sprinted off in the direction of the nearby beach parking lot. We rounded a bunch of trees and laid eyes on Chloe's truck, sitting there all alone and relatively unharmed.

Once we reached the truck, Chloe whooped and patted it on the hood affectionately. "Oh thank fuck you're okay. I know you're on your last legs but we've been through too much for this damn storm to be the thing that finally ends your reign of terror on the high seas of Arcadia."

Chloe quickly jumped inside and I did the same, though I was unable to hide my giggling.

She rolled her eyes at me and started the truck. "What's so funny, Caulfield?"

I wiped a stray tear from my eye. "Nothing, it's just hard to imagine you caring so much about a shitty truck. I bet you even named it, didn't you?"

Chloe backed out of the parking lot and huffed. "Hey! This shitty truck holds a lot of memories. I found it in the junk-yard the same day I met Rachel, actually. I even fixed it up myself. And for your information, her name is Anne Bonny, but I just call her Bonny."

I snorted at that. "You mean like the famous pirate?"

Chloe smirked. "Well, duh. The license plate when I found it actually had that name on it, for some reason. I changed the plate when I restored it, but it seemed fitting to keep the name. And I only ever shared that with Rachel, now you too, so if you tell anyone, I'll have to kill ya."

I chuckled. "Don't worry, your punk cred is safe with me. I won't let the secret get out that you're still a pirate nerd at heart."

We spent the rest of the drive in dreadful silence as we drove back through the heart of town, going as fast as possible while dodging around countless fallen trees and other obstacles along the way. It was a miracle that we hadn't come across any dead bodies, at-least not on the path we'd taken, though there were still many people wandering around in the road with slight injuries from flying debris who seemed to keep materializing out of thin air. It's lucky that Chloe's truck had good brakes, if nothing else, otherwise we'd have probably driven into some of them by accident.

Thankfully, we made it to the Blackwell parking lot mostly untouched, with the exception of a large tree branch that hit the wind-shield hard enough to leave a huge crack right as we pulled in.

Chloe turned off the engine and flipped her middle finger up at the tornado out the window. "You'll have to do better than that, you fucker!"

I whacked her on the arm. "Please don't taunt the giant tornado, Chloe. If I have to stop you from dying one more time before I can go back to save Rachel, I'm gonna be hella pissed."

Chloe raised an eyebrow at me as she climbed out of the truck. "Dude, you're gonna fit right in with Rachel. You're already using her vocabulary."

I frowned as we began our jog across campus. "Huh? I thought that was your word?"

Chloe shook her head. "Nope. I learned it from Rachel first. And I guess you learned it from me. Now here you are about to save her. It's all coming full circle."

Both the main courtyard and the dorm courtyard were completely deserted, it seemed we were the only ones around. At-least we were able to get inside and reach my dorm room without being interrupted.

As soon as we entered my room, I dived to the floor and reached under the bed to pull out a box that contained all my older photos from my time in Seattle. Well, the ones that I didn't throw away before I came back to Arcadia. I flipped the box over, spilling the photos into a pile on the ground.

Chloe knelt down next to me, not sure what she was looking for, and pointed up at my photo wall. "What about those?"

I didn't bother looking up as I just said, "Nah. Those were all taken here in the Bay after I returned. Whatever we're looking for should be somewhere in this pile. Luckily I put dates on the back of all my photos. So, when was the last time you remember actually seeing Rachel?"

Chloe furrowed her brow in thought. "April 22nd, like I put on her missing person poster. But if you mean a specific time then... Uh, I remember she was supposed to be sleeping over at mine that night. But she got a text around... 10pm and said that she needed to go. I don't know who it was from, and now that I have more context, she was definitely avoiding the question when I asked her what it was about. The last thing I remember is the back of her head as she climbed out of my window while I was shouting at her for ditching me. The next day, she'd just vanished into thin air. So you can bet your ass I blamed myself. I thought she'd left Arcadia without me and after what I said to her, I couldn't blame her even if she did."

I took a break from sorting through the photos to give her a hug. "I'm sorry, Chloe. But if this works, then at-least you'll have a chance to apologize to her, I guess."

Chloe reluctantly pulled away and wiped her nose on her sleeve. "Yeah... I- Thanks, Max."

I nodded at that, and together we returned to finding a needle in a haystack that would give me enough time to save Rachel.

A few minutes later, Chloe picked one up and hummed as she turned it over. "What about this one? It's the right date, and was taken at 4pm according to what you wrote down."

I took it from her and glanced at the photo of a wet Max sitting on the front steps of my old Seattle high school and looking incredibly upset, immediately wincing at the unpleasant memory it brought back.

Chloe must've seen the expression on my face because she asked, "I assume you also wrote 'fuck this day' on the back for a reason, huh?"

I grunted in agreement. "I took this photo right after a group of bullies ambushed me in the bathroom and shoved my head in a toilet, all because high school would be over soon and they thought it'd make a great leaving present for me, as if we weren't almost adults and should've outgrown that shit by then. So yeah. Fuck that day and fuck those cunts."

Chloe whistled at that. "Damn, look at you breaking out the big guns. Sorry, Max. If I was there, they wouldn't be able to walk again for doing that to you."

I sighed. "Well, I didn't have you to protect me in Seattle like you did when we were kids, so everyone just walked all over me. It was a really hard time for me in Seattle, Chloe."

Chloe gestured back to the pile of photos. "We could always find something else for you to jump through, if you don't want to be wandering around covered in toilet water."

I shook my head. "No, this one will give me enough time to get back to Arcadia. I'll be okay." Then I mumbled under my breath, "The things we do for the ones we love..."

Chloe wasn't meant to, but she very clearly heard it. "Did you just say what I think you just said?"

I froze at that, but for once, the instinct to rewind it away never came, and since I was about to do something that could backfire, I decided to finally admit what I could never say to her when we were younger.

Turning to face her, I forced myself to make eye contact. "Chloe, I want you to know right now that no matter what happens after I do this, I love you. I always have, I've just been too chickenshit to say it until now. And I understand that saving Rachel probably means I'll become a third wheel. But if I must sacrifice that love to keep your ass alive, so be it. You know I'd do anything for you."

Chloe jaw dropped open and she just stared at me with wide eyes as her face flushed beet-red.

It took a moment for her brain to reboot, and she swallowed thickly until she found her voice. "Shit, Max. I-" She trailed off as she seemingly got lost in my eyes, before she exhaled and started up again. "Fuck it. I love you too, Max. I wanted so desperately to tell you right before my dad died, but since I already knew you'd be moving to Seattle, I didn't want to complicate things at the last minute, and I knew how easily you got overwhelmed even on a normal day without that mushy shit hanging over you. So I stayed quiet, and then dad died and I lost you. I've often wondered how things could've turned out if I had just told you how I felt back then and I'm not going to repeat that same mistake twice."

Now it was my turn to stare at her in disbelief. "Crap. Really? You're... not just saying that to make me feel better before I do this?"

Chloe bit her lip in hesitation before she scooted forward and pressed her lips against mine. It lasted only a second, but felt like an eternity of bliss to me.

When Chloe pulled away, she was grinning. "Does that convince you enough to kiss me back? Or do I have to dare you to do it like I did last time?"

I was still slightly stunned from her kissing me in the first place, but when she went to open her mouth, presumably to follow through with her dare, I surged forward and captured her mouth with mine once more before she could say anything.

This time it was longer, more passionate, filled with years of unspoken feelings and regrets.

Until we were rudely interrupted by one of the benches from the courtyard outside flying into my window, causing us to jump apart in shock as it shattered.

I grumbled to myself in annoyance. "Fuck, I didn't realize the storm had gotten so close." Then I failed to hold back a tear as I said, "Chloe, if we're doing this, it needs to be now. I'm sorry."

Chloe just wiped the tear off my face and looked me in the eye as she vowed, "Whatever reality we end up in after this, even if you don't get to confess your love for me again, just remember that I'll always be your Partner in Time. I love you, Max Caulfield."

I hugged her as tightly as I could. "And I'll always be your Partner in Crime. I love you too, Chloe Price."

She pulled away first and tapped a finger on the photo in my hands. "You've got this, Super Max. Go save my angel. I'll see you on the other side."

I nodded and gave her one more kiss for good luck, then wiped the tears from my eyes before staring down at the picture that should hopefully give me the head start I needed to save Rachel.

The last thing I heard before everything went white was Chloe mirroring the last words I'd said to her before her life went to shit. "Just remember: We'll always be Max and Chloe, even when we're apart."

It felt like minutes had passed before the white void finally receeded from my vision and I blinked my eyes back into focus as my senses slowly adjusted to the 6 month younger body of myself that I was now inhabiting.

It didn't take long for me to realize my vision was more watery than I expected, and at first I attibuted it to me crying over having to leave Chloe behind, until I remembered that I'd been in the middle of sobbing when I took the photo that I just jumped through.

After hastily wiping my eyes again, I stood up from the front steps outside my old Seattle high school and became acutely aware of just how wet my entire upper torso was.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust at the feeling of my shirt sticking to my body and set off in a sprint down the street towards my Seattle home. Luckily it was only a few blocks away from the school so it didn't take long for me to arrive.

Only when I reached the front door did I notice that I hadn't come across the white photographic boundary like I had done every other time I'd jumped through a photo, though I didn't pay the thought much attention because if there had been a border then my plan would've probably failed before it even began.

After unlocking the door, I headed inside only to find the house empty, and it took me a few seconds to remember that Mom and Dad were both working late tonight, which actually worked in my favour. I quickly pulled my phone out of my jeans and set it on the kitchen counter for now, sighing in relief when it lit up. The toilet water hadn't extended that far down so it'd managed to survive.

Now, first thing's first... I didn't want to spend another second in these wet clothes and I needed to get out of them right-the-fuck-now, so I rushed upstairs to my bedroom and pulled a random set of fresh clothes out of my wardrobe – along with my thickest hoodie, of-course – before getting changed and discarding the wet clothes in the laundry basket.

I would've much preferred a shower too, but time was of the essence. Instead, I grabbed a pen and a wad of sticky-notes from my desk; peeling one off before scribbling down a note for my parents that said 'FYI, I'm having an unplanned sleepover at Kristen's tonight. Sorry for the short notice! I'll be back in the morning for school though. Love you! ~xomaxo'.

Then I stuck it to the outside of my door before walking over to my bedside drawer and withdrawing enough of my 'emergency' pocket money for a bus ride to and from Arcadia Bay, along with an old flip-knife that my Dad had given me for my 16th birthday. I'm not sure why he thought it'd make a good present, I guess he just wanted me to have a way to protect myself or something, but it's been sitting in my drawer untouched all this time. Well,. until now, at-least.

Once I'd pocketed everything, I went back downstairs and picked up my phone from the kitchen counter before going back outside and locking the door behind me.

I shot a quick text to Kristen asking if it was okay to sleep over at her house tonight 'because I'd had a really shitty day and needed the company', which was most certainly true, then I began the long walk towards the nearest greyhound station with a bus bound for Arcadia Bay while texting back and forth with Kristen about the 'toilet incident'.

Needless to say, the four hour bus ride was uneventful and boring. However, with each passing minute I became increasingly aware of time slowly creeping up on me. I wasn't sure how long I'd be able to remain in the past before I had to succumb to the rubber-band effect and be flung back into the future.

When I exited the bus in the center of Arcadia, it was already almost 9pm due to horrendous traffic, and now that I was finally able to focus on doing the task at hand, it was a little easier to keep myself anchored in this timeline. I only had an hour or so left, hopefully.

With that in mind, I set off in the direction of Chloe's house, which was luckily just a five minute walk from here. Ah, the perks of living in a small town...

Unfortunately, it was late enough at night for the streetlights to turn on, so I had to stick to the dark shadows once I reached Cedar Ave which was a lot more stressful than I'd expected it to be. I mean, I'd grown up on these streets, and I wasn't exactly afraid of the dark; but all the shit I'd been through in the previous timeline seemed to have made my guard stay up at all times now.

By the time I settled across the street from Chloe's house, I was in the middle of chastising myself for worrying about being ambushed by Jefferson in the past, which was when I remembered that the whole point of coming here was to stop Rachel from being grabbed by him in the first place. The thought of being so close to Jefferson again made my anxiety spike, but I didn't have long to dwell on it before I heard a commotion coming from across the street.

I peeked out from my hiding spot and finally laid eyes on the mysterious Rachel Amber for the first time, as she hastily climbed out of Chloe's bedroom window. The house was partially shrouded in darkness so it was hard to fully make out all her features, but I knew it was her.

Especially when Chloe angrily yelled, "Fuck you, Rachel!" and slammed the window shut behind her. That gave it away for sure.

I only managed to catch a glimpse of Chloe's blue hair for a split-second before she stomped out of view, so I turned my attention back to the silhouette of Rachel who was now storming down the street at an unexpectedly fast pace. With no choice but to follow her, I reluctantly left my hiding spot and gave chase, sticking to the shadows as best as I could.

A few streets later, and it became clear that she was heading in the direction of Blackwell Academy. That was when I also noticed another figure stalking behind her too, on her side of the street. I wasn't sure how long he'd been following, but he didn't seem to have spotted me, and I only saw him because he made the mistake of walking under a streetlight in his haste to catch up to Rachel... which briefly lit up his face, making it unmistakably obvious that it was Jefferson himself who was tailing her.

Now that I was in a race against time, I ran ahead up the street as carefully as I could to avoid being seen by either of them. I quickly scanned the area and saw an alleyway around the corner of the street Rachel was on, which if my memory was right, served as a shortcut to Blackwell. I assumed that Rachel would be taking it, and that was probably also where Jefferson would make his move, since the alleyway was pitch-black and hidden from prying eyes. A perfect place for an ambush.

There was only one more row of houses leading up to the alleyway, and Jefferson was gaining on her with alarming speed, so I had no choice but to act now and hope for the best.

I reached into my pocket and grabbed hold of the flip-knife just in-case, while I waited for Rachel to walk around the corner. Once came into view, I sprinted across the road and slammed into her; the force knocked us both into a low hedge that bordered the front garden of a nearby house and we tumbled over the top, landing with a thud on the other side.

Before Rachel could cry out, I managed to cover her mouth with my hand and hissed into her ear, "Shh! Stay down, I'm not going to hurt you."

She struggled in my grip for a moment before reluctantly complying, though I still didn't remove my hand.

I heard footsteps that no doubt belonged to Jefferson on the other side of the hedge and pulled the flip-knife out of my pocket, then I held my breath as he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

I strained to listen as he muttered to himself, "Where the fuck did she go? She was right there. Damn it!" before he sped off towards the alleyway, probably assuming that she'd simply gone inside already.

When the sound of his footsteps vanished, I pulled my hand away from Rachel's mouth and was very glad that the garden we were in wasn't lit up, because she instantly turned around and squinted at my face in the darkness. Luckily, I was smart enough to also keep my hood up so she wasn't able to make out any identifying features.

Under her intense scrutiny, it took me a few seconds to find my voice. "So, do you have any idea who that voice belongs to?"

I watched as she frowned at me. "No, I don't think so. The hedge muffled the voice and, well, I was too busy worrying about you to focus on that anyway."

I sighed. "Okay, well that was the voice of Mark Jefferson."

Rachel shook her head. "That's impossible. I was... uh, texting him just a minute ago."

I actually facepalmed at that. "Of-couse. Jefferson lured you into a trap, like he-" I quickly shook that thought away and continued, "Okay, listen to me. I just saved your fucking life, Rachel Amber."

She spotted the knife in my hand and leaned away from me in confusion. "What do you mean? He wouldn't hurt me, you don't know him like I do. And how do you know my name? Who even are you?"

I snorted and made a show of putting the knife away so she knew it wasn't intended for her. "I know a lot more than you think, Rachel, and I really don't have time to explain any of this to you. Just know that I am a friend, and please believe me when I tell you to stay far away from Jefferson because I won't be around to save your life a second time. Also, for fuck sake, stop whatever it is that you're doing with Frank Bowers. Chloe Price deserves better than that, you know she's been fucked over before."

Rachel slowly pulled herself to her feet and crossed her arms. "How the hell do you know about Frank? Or Chloe, for that matter?"

I rolled my eyes at her. "Like I said, think of me as a friend. And speaking of Chloe, you should probably get back to her, instead of going to do whatever it is you thought you were before I saved your damn life."

After a moment of silence, she huffed. "Fine! Do I at-least get to know your name, since you seem to know mine?"

I chuckled at that. "One day, perhaps. But not tonight. Now get going already, before Jefferson comes back. Also, I have some advice for you; it'll be best if you come clean to Chloe about Frank and Jefferson, and grovel at her feet for forgiveness. Just don't tell her about what happened here, or about me, because you know how overprotective she can get."

Rachel grunted at that before hanging her head. "...Yeah, you can say that again."

I climbed over the hedge and glanced around the street. Seeing no sign of Jefferson, I gestured for Rachel to do the same, before whispering, "It's been a pleasure to finally meet you, Rachel Amber."

She just scoffed and turned on her heel before speed-walking away, back the way she came, without even giving me a backwards glance. Not that I could really blame her.

I waited a few more seconds before sneaking back into the shadows across the street and tailing her, just to be sure, and surprisingly, Rachel seemed to follow my advice. Thankfully, she made it all the way back to Chloe's street without running into Jefferson again, so my services were no longer required.

I watched as she climbed up to the roof outside Chloe's window and sat there nervously for a few seconds before knocking on it. At that point, I decided to give them some privacy and walked away.

A couple of streets over, I finally came to a stop and pulled out the pen along with one of the sticky-notes that I'd brought with me, before writing, 'Hello Max. You're probably wondering where you are. Don't panic, but you're in Arcadia Bay. You're not crazy, I promise, but I'm a future Max who's writing you this message. I needed to borrow your body for a few hours, that's all. I can't say anything else about it, but I brought enough money for you to take a bus back to Seattle, and Kristen was kind enough to let you sleep over at her house tonight. Just don't tell her about this, for obvious reasons! This will never happen to you again, so it's best if you forget about it. Also, since you're in Arcadia, you'll probably have the urge to finally visit Chloe. I feel horrible for saying this, but whatever you do, please do NOT do that!!! It will mess up a lot of things if you do. I'm really sorry. ~xofuturemaxo'.

Then the last thing I did was stick the note to my forehead with a guilty giggle, before I finally let go; allowing the strands of time to grab hold and pull me back into my new future timeline...

**Author's Note:**

> If you have feedback, I'll gladly take it! Just know that Chloe herself most likely won't be featured in future chapters so don't bother complaining about the lack of Chloe... because I agree with you, but I have other fics with Chloe (including PTW which is probably my pride-and-joy at this point) that you can read if this one isn't an option for you.
> 
> Also, this is unfortunately the only chapter I have written for this fic at the moment and there'll probably be a delay before the second one is released. Like I said in my other new fics, I'm not sticking to a weekly release shedule beyond the backlog which I have none to burn through this time, so the next chapter will come when it comes.
> 
> Until then, thanks for reading! <3


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